Notes: Both PaperSky95 and Fernando Rodreiguez looked over this chapter. My love to you both for sitting though all the melodrama.

And Nico has yet to appear. Sorry about that, but I need this to make some amount of sense, so there are a few things I need to clear up first...

There's an OotS reference somewhere in there. Loved that girl. :)

Second Chances

Part 2: Consequences

Click. Whirr…

"Recording Transcript on June tenth, second session with Thalia Grace."

"…" Sound of foot tapping.

"Miss Grace?"

"I'm here."

"To be honest, I did not expect to see you again, not after you missed last week's session."

Grunt.

"I'm happy you decided otherwise."

"Yeah, yeah. Look, can we get this over with already? I have things to do."

"Of course, whatever you want."

"…"

"…"

"Well?"

"Anytime you feel like it, Miss Grace."

"You quit the Hunters?"

"Uh-huh."

"You quit the Hunters?"

"Yep."

"You actually quit them?"

Thalia slammed the TV remote down into Annabeth's ancient sofa and glared at her instead. Annabeth's only reply was to fold her arms and raise an eyebrow.

"I don't know why you're so surprised," Thalia snapped, "You were the one who helped me sneak into Olympus."

"I didn't know it was for coercing Artemis."

"What? You wouldn't have helped me if you'd known?"

"Well, no. Of course not," Annabeth glared at her, "It's just… why did you leave?"

Thalia groped around for the remote and switched channels again, hoping that the I-don't-want-to-talk-about-it element would be detected. It didn't work, though. Annabeth just stood there with folded arms and narrowed eyes and kept giving her the evil eye.

It was… strange to see her like this. Sure, she knew she had stayed the same age while everyone around her had grown older, but it still stunned her to see the amount of difference a few years could make. She remembered Annabeth as the seven year old who had followed her around like a lost puppy. Said image had very little to do with the Amazonian woman who was currently treating her like a wayward teenage daughter.

She hated her life. Why did it have to be so confusing?

Behind her, she heard Annabeth sigh.

"Thalia, if it's Luke... he may not be born for centuries-"

"It's not Luke," Thalia interrupted.

"Why else would you quit? As far as life's decisions go, that one's a little risky."

"Because I'm so careful otherwise, right?"

"Let's put it this way," Annabeth leaned over and took the remote away from her, "You tell me what the Hades happened or I'm kicking you off my couch this instant."

"She's a little… domineering."

"Your friend?"

"Yeah. It's weird- I've known her forever, practically. Since she was seven or something. And now she's all taller than me and hypercompetent and bossy. It's really weird."

"But you two are close?"

"Hmm. Yeah. I can't think of any reason we should be, actually. We were close once, long back. But it was long back."

"Most people would kill for friends like that."

"Yeah, I guess. Don't know what I would have done without her."

"Hmm."

"But she's still a bossy cow."

"I am not a cow," Annabeth shrilled at her, "Take that back!"

"I mean it in the nicest possible way," Thalia assured her, taking another sip of the beer. When they'd started, she'd told Annabeth it didn't taste that good. Now that they were giggling at random comments and talking in high-pitched voices, it tasted a lot better.

"You could have called me a gorgon," Annabeth grumbled, "Or a Kampe or a something else. Not cows. I hate cows."

"Fine. You're a bossy horse."

"Better," Annabeth approved, and a sappy smile crept onto her face, "I like horses. Percy's good with horses."

Thalia gagged, "The two of you make me sick."

"I know," Annabeth looked a little green herself, "We do that to most people."

"Don't you get sick?"

"If I stop to think about it? Maybe?" Annabeth slammed her bottle onto the table, "But that's enough about me. What about you? What are you gonna do?"

"Uh,' Thalia could honestly say that they rest of her life hadn't featured in her thoughts when she'd deserted the Hunters, "Stay away from forests?"

"Oooh. Artemis, huh?"

"She wasn't happy."

"Should I be expecting an arrow in my back?"

"Nah. She told me she wouldn't, and she keeps her word. To tell the truth, I'm more worried about the Big Guy. He was not happy playing mediator."

"Oh?"

"Yeah," Thalia abruptly found herself swallowing a lump in her throat, "I think he disowned me."

"Your Father?"

"He was not happy, to say the least. He'd warned me about joining when I did. And having to argue for me with my superior officer- well-"

"… Superior officer?"

"It's complicated. Don't prod."

"My apologies. I will not purse the topic. But your father-"

"Yeah, that."

"Did you see that?"

Thalia hated Camp Half Blood.

"I don't think that's ever happened," the whisper was loud enough to reach her ears, so obviously designed to carry, "I mean, gods. Ever. It's so weird."

She really, really, really hated Camp Half-Blood.

She'd known, that when she'd gone running off to Zeus to shield her from Artemis's wrath, that she would have to pay some sort of price. And after speaking with Artemis, when he'd looked at her and rumbled that he had chosen to side with her once, and that he would choose to stand by her sister for the rest of eternity; she'd figured that this would mean her life would go back to being what it was like pre-tree.

She could not have been more wrong.

Her entire life, she had come to realize, had revolved around the fact that she was the Daughter of Zeus. Her mother had made sure that she'd known it from the time she could talk (and that had led to some very awkward moments with nannies), and there had been some considerable reinforcement after that. It had become so ingrained into her that she tended to introduce herself as 'Thalia Grace, Daughter of Zeus' to any not-quite mortal she encountered.

And so when she'd dumped her luggage onto a bed in Cabin One and it had blown right back into her face, she'd been a little stunned.

There were other things too. She couldn't sit at the Cabin One table without getting a warning shock. Everytime she tried to introduce herself as the Daughter of Zeus, her voice stopped working.

And when she'd beaten every other Camper and carried the stupid flag over the team line, it refused to change colour. The cheers of her teammates had abruptly died out, and the silence had only been broken by one of the Athena Campers in the opposing team trying to claim that since the Flag hadn't changed colour, the win was null and void.

Thalia had held on to what was left of her dignity and stomped off to dinner, where she'd spent an hour pushing her food around her plate.

Eventually Percy, who was serving as Guest Counselor for the summer, sat down next to her at the Big House table with a plate of food of his own. He looked a little concerned.

"Hey, you okay?"

"I'm fine," she snapped, poking her fork savagely into her food, "Why wouldn't I be fine? I just won, didn't I?"

Percy gently bumped his shoulder with hers and started eating in silence. He'd probably learned some tact while he was with Annabeth, because he didn't mention the fact that she was periodically rubbing her eyes on her sleeve.

She wasn't the Daughter of Zeus anymore. She was Thalia Grace, demigoddess of undiscussed parentage who just happened to have lightning-centric powers.

"We don't talk much anymore. Or at all."

"Ah. And you moth-"

"Dead."

"I'm sorry for your loss."

"To tell you the truth, it wasn't much of one."

"No, I suppose not… Would you like a moment?"

"I'm fine!"

"Of course. I'll just be stepping out- I need to check something with my secretary. Five minutes."

"I'm fine, okay? I'm just-"

"Miss Grace, you don't have to explain yourself to me. Please, take a moment. The tissues are there on my table."

"Hey, Therkala! Goth girl!"

She almost replied with Yo, D! Wine dude!, but stopped herself just in time and settled for a disgruntled grunt.

"You forgot to sacrifice your food yesterday," Mr D. was lavishing most of his attention on shuffling a deck of playing cards, but she figured he was talking to her, "We do that here, remember?"

"I don't have a cabin, remember?"

Dionysus paused, and turned in her general direction. She didn't back down.

"Look," she told him, "Considering the fact that I can't sit at my table and the fact that the stupid flags know that I'm a nobody now, don't you think it's a little bit of overkill, sacrificing stuff to the big guy? It's not like he's going hungry or anything- have you counted my half-siblings lately? Half not-siblings? Whatever?"

Mr. D. stopped shuffling his cards and raised an eyebrow, "Terra, were you expecting royal treatment, perhaps? A legion of slave boys catering to your every whim? Regular odes to your… what was that word you kids use? Awesomeness?"

Thalia Looked at him, eyes narrowed.

"Sacrifice your food to the big guy," Mr. D. told her, "Now shoo. I have important things to-"

"No."

Silence.

"I'm not going to do the stupid sacrifice ritual, and if he doesn't like it, he can come down and tell it to me himsel-"

"Thalia Grace, shut your mouth."

The sheer force of the words was enough to make her take a step back. Considering the fact that Dionysus hadn't moved or even raised his voice, it was a little unnerving. All that had changed were his eyes turning pure purple.

"You are the first," he told her, "And the only Huntress to survive for this long after having left the Hunt. What was done for you was not a courtesy, it was an upheaval of traditions millennia old. Disgrace is the least of your problems- be thankful for your life."

Thalia realized she was shaking. She wasn't sure if it was fear or anger.

"You owe your father your existence. And the fact remains, Thalia Grace, that so long as you live here, you're dependant on the grace of the gods," his voice lowered to a bare whisper, "Forget that at your own peril. Is that understood?"

Angry as she was, Thalia was not suicidal. She nodded.

"Excellent," Dionysus's eyes flashed back to normal, "Now go and find the Centaur. He was supposed to be here an hour ago."

"Would you like some-"

"Can it. I'm fine."

"Miss Grace, I'm here to help you. If you want to talk about it-"

"I've got through worse without any help. I can handle it."

"… sigh."

And even with all of her that was screeching about how she'd almost died about a dozen times for being the freaking daughter of Zeus, what really angered her the most was how the old drunkard had a point.

Her wrist flicked in a motion as natural as breathing, and the camper in front of her landed on the ground. Heavily.

"Next."

A couple of the Ares campers (gluttons for punishment, every single one of them) traded a look and charged at her, abruptly and in tandem. Thalia flipped her spear so it was held diagonally in front of her body, and used it to block their swords.

Too easy. The Hunters made them look like perfect novices, and she barely had to pay any attention to hold her own with them. But at least this way, she could think and fight at the same time. Not that she was sure that was a good thing, with all the depressing thoughts running marathons through her head.

A couple of clashes told her that she'd managed to win this round too. And in depressingly short time, at that.

Thalia dismissed training as useless, and stomped out of the central area towards the edges; stripping off her armour as she went. Behind her, silent observation petered out into the consistent, low murmur of voices she encountered wherever she went these days.

Escape, apparently was not going to be easy. The disgrace of the gods was going to hound her for the rest of her life, and she was going to spend at least the next few years of it here, where she'd be whispered about, pointed at and generally looked on as an object of pity and curiosity by kids she barely knew and did not really want to know.

Someone laughed, someone shushed, and Thalia decided that enough was enough.

She dropped her armour into the ground, where it landed with a satisfyingly loud clang. Even more satisfyingly; everyone jumped and the low murmur of voices ceased.

"Let me see if I've got this straight," she snapped, hands on hips and a semi-rabid smile on her lips, "You are all wondering why I quit the hunt, right?"

One of the braver campers nodded, a little warily.

"It's getting old, so let's get the air cleared right now. I-"

"I knew it! You left because you fell in love with Nico, didn't you?"

Thalia forgot for a moment that she was about to tell off the crowd, and blinked at the girl who was practically hopping up and down on her feet, armour and all. Because where the heck had that come from?

"Nico?" she repeated blankly.

"Because you two are perfect for each other," the girl continued, ignoring the efforts of the people nearby to bodily restrain her, "You're both like- big three kids. And you both wear so much black-"

"What?"

"I want you to know that I, personally, support your decision wholeheartedly-"

"Wait a minute," Thalia held up a hand, attempting to get her head around this, "Are you saying that you think I quit the Hunt because I fell in love with a guy I barely know because we both wear a lot of black?"

"Uh," the girl paused, "Not exactly, but-"

"You know what?" Thalia stripped off her armbands, which was all that was left of her armour, "Thanks. You just helped me make up my mind."

"I'm sorry if I was intrusive."

"Yeah, well. At least you back off eventually."

"I try. And, if it helps, there are many people who are not very close to their parents. You're not alone."

"If you think that makes me feel better, you're not a very good therapist."

"Perhaps. But from where I'm standing, you appear to be quite competent and healthy. And you have friends who care about you."

"Guess I can't argue with that, huh?"

When Annabeth opened her apartment door and found her in front of it, she didn't blink a golden eyelash.

"Well?"

"I can't stay at camp," Thalia told her.

"I see," Annabeth stood aside, letting her in. She still didn't seem surprised. Percy had probably blabbed his ass off at her.

Once she'd stepped inside, though, Thalia hesitated. It just had been so long. Sure, they had been close once, and she didn't know anyone else she could possibly turn to but-

"Beer?"

Ah well. Sometimes, you just had to have faith in people, right?

"…"

"…"

"… !"

"Well, if you have nothing else to say, Miss Grace. Shall we stop the session for today?"

"YES. Thank you. And goodbye."

"I hope you will be here next week."

"I don't have much of a choice."

"Oh?"

"It's not something you need to know, really. Can I go now?"

"Of course."

Click, whirr…

"Thalia Grace! The world is your oyster. Go forth and devour!"

"Damn right I will!"

"…Hic. Excuse me."

"Uh, Annabeth? Wait a minute. Devour oysters? Aren't they…urgh … served raw?"

"Thaila. I'm drunk, if you hadn't noticed. Grant me my less than perfect metaphors."

"Will do."

End Notes: Comments, negative or otherwise, are appreciated. A lot. :) And again, the next chapter will be up when it's up.

Also, sorry for the double alert. There was a glitch.